


Tip of the Iceberg

by end_alls



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: M/M, Post Movie, just a nice time, plus the rest of the Burning Rescue gang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:01:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21943288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/end_alls/pseuds/end_alls
Summary: Galo and the others are going on a retreat to a frozen lake for the weekend. It's hard for Lio to be around so much ice and cold, but for the first time, wants to come and spend time with the people he loves.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 4
Kudos: 97





	Tip of the Iceberg

“Looking forward to some quality time with Ignis?”

Lio’s mouth twitched. He’d exploded at their chief just a few days ago, and he was certain the wounds were still fresh. After spending so long giving orders to others, it wasn’t easy learning to take them from someone else, and even after almost a year of working with the Burning Rescue, there were days when he felt like he hadn’t made any progress with them at all.

“Isn’t anyone else staying behind?” Lio asked, jaw stiff.

“Thought you’d never ask!” Galo flung his hand forward as a small bundle of fur scampered from his shoulder and out onto his open palm. “Vinny here’s gonna make sure you two play nice! Ain’t that right, Vinny?”

The rat peeped in accord, just before it leapt from Galo’s hand to Lio’s shoulder. He was getting better at not flinching when the thing jumped onto him, but the first time it had hopped to his head without any warning, he’d just been thankful he didn’t have any flames to summon.

Lio scratched the rat between the shoulder blades, and it nuzzled into his neck.

“You two get along just fine these days, huh?” Galo gave the rat a scratch of his own. “Vinny’ll keep you safe and warm til I’m back, kay?”

Lio fought off a shiver.

“Galo, I…”

“What’s up?” He tilted his head like the puppy he was—always ready to please. “Listen, I don’t have to go with the others on the retreat. If you want, I can stay h—”

“No, Galo,” Lio protested. “You love skating. You all planned this for so long.”

“Well, yeah, but if it means you’ll be back here all bummed out, then it won’t be as fun.” Galo grinned, then pressed his thumb into Lio’s dimple, like it would get him to smile too. It didn’t work this time.

“I can’t keep… avoiding it.”

Galo’s smile faded. “Lio…” He moved his hand to Lio’s shoulder. “I get it. Ice hurt you like fire hurt me. It doesn’t make you weak for bowing out of skating with us.”

Lio’s mouth set as he bowed his head. Galo was wrong. They both had scars to show, it was true. The faded, frostbitten bullet wound on his chest. Galo’s arm. But Galo’s fear of fire had burned away long ago, lost in the smoke of his burning soul.

It was different for Lio. Without the Promare inside him, too often he felt empty and cold, leaving his mind with nowhere to go but back to the week he’d spent frozen while innocent Burnish turned to ash. Sometimes, even a stiff breeze was enough to leave him shivering until he could find someone to hold him, and luckily Galo was never far—except for times like this, when the crew went on camping retreats to the mountains.

“Skating’s not for everyone, anyway,” Galo went on cheerily. “Ignis always says he’s too busy to come, but _I_ think it’s secretly because he stinks at it.”

“Care to repeat that?” Ignis interrupted. Galo nearly jumped out of his baggy pants before flailing himself into attention.

“No, sir!” He gave a stiff salute, but Lio didn’t move. “Just making sure things are in order before we leave!”

“Go see that the luggage is secured to the bikes, then.”

Galo blinked, eyes flicking between the chief and Lio. Then he nodded, and gave Lio’s arm an encouraging pat. “Be right back. We won’t be leaving til Lucia gets back with the snacks, anyway.” As he turned and jogged off, Lio’s eyes bore into his shoulder blades, pleading for him to hurry.

“I’ll be running you through some drills,” Ignis said once Galo had gone. “And we need to work on your maneuverability with the truck.”

Lio frowned. He could drive their truck with his eyes closed, but it was never good enough for Ignis.

“And you still haven’t passed the chemistry exam. We’ll need to go over coolant compounds before you take it again.”

Was he trying to make this weekend even more miserable than it was already going to be?

“That is, unless you decide to go with them.”

Lio’s head spun to the chief, but the expression beneath his sunglasses was as inscrutable as ever.

“…Galo told you how I feel about ice,” Lio said, looking away again.

“He did.”

“So you should know that’s why I don’t go with them.”

“Yes,” he said. “But I take it you’ve seen the pictures?”

Lio nodded. They brought back dozens of pictures from each trip, of smiles and laughter, and Galo’s face blushing in the cold. The last trip, they’d made a snowman that looked like him, and another that looked like Lio.

Ignis grunted. “Those pictures are memories. Memories of this team, and their bond. You’re part of this team now.”

It didn’t feel like it, when Ignis insisted on being so hard on his training, and yet never let him pilot a rescue mech.

“You deserve to make some memories like that. Ones where you’re smiling with the people you love. With the person you love.”

Lio started, eyes flicking to Ignis’ mirrored sunglasses, and then away again. It was no secret that he and Galo had been dating for the past few months, but no one had ever commented on it so bluntly.

“He wants you to go, but he’ll never ask you to come,” Ignis continued. “None of us would. It’s a decision you need to make for yourself.”

Ignis extended his hand. Lio looked at it, not sure what he was supposed to do with it until Vinny leapt from where he’d been snuggled on Lio’s shoulder and onto Ignis’ arm. Once he’d made it to the top of the coat, Ignis turned to go.

“He’ll be there every moment you need him—I know he will. And if the trip happens to end early… I’m sure we can find some way to make up for it here.”

Lio stared after him, trying to process everything he’d said. The chief had never opened up like this before, spoken so long or so frankly.

He was beginning to understand why the others regarded him so highly, and felt a twinge of guilt for being so difficult with him this week. Lio had been the one to snap, berating their chief for not trusting him enough to pilot the rescue mechs, but maybe that hadn’t been the real reason. The mechs were equipped with all kinds of coolant, and while malfunctions were rare, they weren’t impossible. A few months ago, Remi had gotten one of his arms frozen in a misfire. He’d held out until the fire had been extinguished, but if it had been Lio in that mech, he wouldn’t have been able to finish the mission. Wouldn’t have been able to do what needed to be done to save the civilians.

“Lio!” Galo trotted back over, waving like they hadn’t seen each other in days. Lio did love him. So much. “We’re just about ready. Want to see us off?”

“I want to come.” Lio made sure the words were out before he could think to hesitate.

Galo’s mouth dropped open as he slowed to a stop. “What? Lio, you sure? If you feel pressured—”

“It’s not that.” His eyes flicked to where Ignis had gone. “It’s time to try.”

Galo’s puppy face remained dumbfounded and confused, until Lio reached to take his hand.

“You’re right. Ice hurt me. It’s in so many awful memories…” He raised his eyes to meet Galo’s. “But I don’t want it to hurt me forever. I can’t allow that.” He squeezed his partner’s hand, letting the warmth pass between them. “Which is why I want to make new memories of ice. With you.”

Galo’s face broke into a lopsided smile, and Lio spotted the first sparks of tears in his eyes. “Lio, I’d be honored.”

Lio walked out, bundled from head to toe in hand-me-downs from the rest of the crew. Aina’s winter clothes fit him best, but the first thing he put on was one of Galo’s novelty shirts. If he was doing this, he was doing it with Galo’s warmth against his skin at all times.

Lucia gave him a hat with cartoon eyes on it, and Remi passed him a hand-knitted scarf he’d never seen before, which made Lio suspect he’d been waiting for the chance to give it to him. Lio’s nose began to run, even though they hadn’t gotten up into the cold of the mountains yet, and he wiped his eyes with the back of Aina’s pink mittens.

Once he’d been properly braced for the cold, they all boarded their motorcycles. They hadn’t readied Lio’s, but he hadn’t wanted to ride alone anyway. Galo revved up his motorcycle, and Lio wrapped his arms around his waist, burying his face to block out the wind.

It was only early afternoon by the time they got there, but Aina started a fire right away—in a designated pit with an extinguisher close at hand, of course.

Lio stared at it, knowing they’d let him sit next to it the entire weekend if he wanted, but he forced his chin up, eyes set on the frozen lake.

While Lucia and Aina got to work on a very convincing snow sculpture of Ignis with glossy shards of ice for glasses, Lio had Galo take him out on the lake.

Galo guided him gently, both mittened hands securely held to keep him steady. As the glossy ice moved beneath them, Lio stared into its hidden depths. But instead of endless refractions of his own face in pain, he saw the future. Him and Galo, hand in hand, smiling as they faced the new world together. He took this new memory, shining in the light of the sinking sun, and he carved it into his heart.

They coasted around in lazy circles until Galo’s bubbling excitement began to surface. He began by twirling Lio below him, and Lio responded in kind by pulling his arm around until Galo had been swung out into a patch of sun on the ice. His laughter ignited the air as the light hit his face, and Lio couldn’t help but join him. The two of them kept up the momentum, swirling and spinning around each other in a series of flashy, and admittedly stupid, moves until they were both gasping for breath through their laughter.

They went back to coasting, Galo’s hand on the small of his back as Lio leaned onto his shoulder. They stayed like that a while, but as the temperature began to drop with the sun, Lio felt a twinge in his chest, settling in above his heart.

“Galo…”

“Yeah?”

“I think I’m done.”

He and Galo retreated to the fire, and Lio curled into him, staring into the flames until they began to die. As it did, anxiety crept back into his heart like ice. How could they keep the fire going all night, without someone awake watch it? It couldn’t burn by itself.

Just as he was about to shiver, Lucia let out a large groan.

“Aaaaaagh!”

“What’s up, Lucia?” Aina asked, setting down the firewood she’d gone to find.

“I toootally forgot my party was raiding tonight! I’m DPSing and they can’t go without me!” She pulled at the pom-poms attached to her hat. “I don’t wanna be a bummer, but do y’think we can cut this trip a little short?”

Lio squinted at her across the fire pit. Lucia hadn’t raided in weeks, ever since they’d patched an exploit she was using to triple her damage output.

Lio caught Aina glance his way before she answered. “Now that you mention it, I’ve got some work to catch up on.”

Remi stood. “I should take the time to make sure our reports are in order before the new quarter.”

“And we’re out of snacks,” Varys declared.

“And we’re out of snacks,” Remi confirmed after a wry look in his backpack.

Galo shifted to get a better look at Lio’s face. “I know you were planning to stick it out through the weekend, but is it okay if we pack it in a bit early?”

Lio’s chest twinged again, but this time it wasn’t from the cold. “You all…”

Galo smiled. “We’ll take it as slow as you need.”

“I think this was a great first step!” Aina said.

“The tip of the iceberg!” Galo agreed.

“C’mon, let’s go, let’s go! It’s freezing out here!” Lucia stomped on the button attached to her tent, and it sprang and refolded itself into its compact carrying case. The rest of them gathered their things, and Galo waited to put out the fire until the others had gotten back onto their bikes. The last possible moment.

Galo loved putting out fires more than anything.

Emotion hit Lio like a flare, bursting from his chest and out his lungs, and he started sobbing. Galo had been about to climb onto his bike, and nearly knocked it over trying to scramble off of it and back to Lio’s side.

He wrapped him in a snug embrace, burying his face into Lio’s hat, and though Lio couldn’t see with his face against Galo’s coat, he heard other footsteps crunching towards them through the snow.

Soon more arms came to wrap around him, until he was being crushed with warmth on all sides.

“You did great today, Lio,” Galo murmured into his ear. “I’m so proud of you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I had this idea the first time I saw promare, and then when I saw it again I couldn't hold back any longer v-v
> 
> "Tip of the Iceberg" is, well, just a phrase, but it's also the name of a nice Owl City song if you want to give it a listen!
> 
> I put the rat in this because I love rats thank you


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